Palm Coast Man Who Avoided Prison in Child Porn Case Is Sentenced to 1 Year Over Gun

Paul W. Stout had had faced an accusation of bigamy and been briefly jailed on a domestic battery charge, later dropped, before his arrest in January 2015 on 10 counts of child porn possession.

The former resident of Palm Coast’s P Section–now a resident of 1687 Papaya Street in Daytona North, or the Mondex in western Flagler–had faced up to 10 years in prison but pleaded guilty in exchange for 10 years’ sex-offender probation and no prison time. He was to be allowed to petition the court for early termination of his probation after five years.

On Tuesday, he was sentenced to prison after all, albeit for a year, following a violation of his probation: he was carrying a gun.

Stout, 47, was driving home last November when, according to the arrest affidavit, when he was found to have a loaded .380-caliber Ruger under some removable flooring in his Durango. He admitted to having the firearm in his house, but not in the car, the arrest report states. He was taken to the Flagler County jail, where he remained until his hearing today before Circuit Judge Matthew Foxman.

“It’s a serious underlying charge,” the judge said of the probation violation. “But the thing about it is, the state is being reasonable in their recommendation.”

Stout could have faced 10 years and a $10,000 fine. He was sentenced to 13.5 months in prison, with credit for the 139 days he served at the county jail, which effectively reduces his prison sentence by almost five months. The clock on his 10 years of probation, however, will restart at zero once he leaves prison.

Aside from a few acknowledgments to the judge, Stout did not speak on his own behalf. His wife of three years, Lisa O’Connor, did. “I just wanted to say that, on behalf of Paul,” O’Connor told the judge, “he’s been an incredible person for me and my family.”

He’s going to have a turn-around time that’s quicker than you think,” the judge told O’Connor. “He’s going to get out shortly. So the point is he’s going to be back with you before you know it, but he’s going to need you to make sure he does well in his probation. And I told him if he does well, I’ll certainly entertain the idea of an early termination, but he has to do well first. I mean, I’ve got to to have miles on the tires before I agree to do that.” Then, turning to Stout, who was in his orange jail suit, hands and feet shackled, Foxman continued: “But there is nothing better on the Planet Earth than having a good partner with you to get you to that place. It will save you from everything bad in life, is picking the right person to be with.”